This summer it was time again to visit our beloved Provence. It was hot so we decided to go for a new place, surrounded by flowing water: L’Isle sur la Sorgue.

This little town in the Vaucluse was built in a swampy area and gained fame from the drainage channels, leaving the nick name: Venice of Comtat.

There are still some watermills to be found that have been used for a lot of different purposes in the history of the city. Milling, wool making…

Today it’s more tourism and antique shops plus agriculture that influence the town.

There is a Campsite near l’Isle but also a winery that is taking part with France Passion , an organization allowing camper vans to stay one day with their members for free if you can produce this year’s vignette,

The winery Domaine de la Gasqui lies a bit outside of L’Isle sur la Sorgue and it is slightly elevated too. Taking the bicicle into town was an easy quarter of an hour, the way back took slightly longer and more muscle power as well…

The camp site is a plane plain with some trees giving shade if one calculates the movement of the sun, between the winery and vineyards.

The first impression we had was from our little friend for the day…

The tasting itself, conducted by the senior winemaker started off slowly. There were on rosé, a white and 4 reds to be tasted but the white alerted my inner fossicker… A vin de France, no vintage and at 9€ not exactly a bargain. Asking about the wine Mr Feraud Senior got more talkative.

The white is a blend of table grape Gros Vert and the wine grape Ugni Blanc aka Trebbiano, not a real star variety… Both planted by his grandfather. The Gros Vert grapes are quite big and thick skinned with lots of seeds. Not really something looked for in table grapes at the moment. But then they were caught after because they could be kept until christmas time. He didn’t want to get rid of those plants so he decided to make this wine which he can only do legally because the vines are older than 25 years. Way older…

Our friend showed us the vineyard and Gros Vert vines. Which happened to be just the vineyard beside our camper van…

But what did it taste like?

Honey, elderflower, rose water and a hint of grapefruit. Med bodied with balanced acidity and some more grapefruit on the palate. Maybe a little bit short but still a nice summer quaffer with a legacy behind it.

I hope that these vines keep on bearing fruit as it is quite unlikely that someone will plant them again. 25 years of not being able to make a wine with them, I don’t see anyone have either the patience or finances…

The second trip with our camper van was down to Mayschoß in the Ahr region. Quite near to Cologne this is a popular spot for short weekend trips.
We parked the van at the camper van site near the train station, lying between the Ahr river and a vineyard with a view on the Saffenburg castle ruins.
Drinking water and waste water emptying facilities are avaiable, as are some lots with electricity avaiable. Some lots, especially those with electricity are far from horizontal. Despite being close to the railway tracks and the main road it is quite quiet.

In this most northern wine growing region in Germany mainly red wine grapes are grown (86% in 2008) which is not what one would expect. Many winemakers produce stil blanc de noir wines, which makes sense if you are sitting in one of the many winery outlets, in the open sun. Our main reason for coming here were not the red wines, nor wines from the village of Mayschoß but a real rarity from neighbouring Rech.

Johannes Hostert owns a small vineyard in Walporzheim planted with over 90 years old, ungrafted Malinger grapes. Also known as Prècoce de Malingre, named after the guy responsible for creating the grape variety, a Parisian gardener. Early ripening it is said to have no real character.
According to Wine Grapes the grape is grown for the table as well. Mr Hostert seems to be the only man in the world producing a varietal wine.

After a short stop at the coop winery Winzergenossenschaft Mayschoß-Altenahr and a stroll on the Rotweinwanderweg to Rech I could finally get my hands on this rarity. On the terrasses of Weingut Johannes Hostert.

A really light colour seemed to confirm the low character of the Malinger grape. A nice suprise on the nose with roasted hazelnuts and a lot of honey. Soft with low acidity with some residual sugars. With 11.5% I would have loved to taste a dry version as well. I bought a bottle for later to see if this one can take some time in my cellar…